Red Deer Public Schools says the province’s phased approach for introducing the new kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum is welcomed news.
On Thursday, the province announced it will implement new kindergarten to Grade 3 mathematics and English language arts and literature curriculum, as well as kindergarten to Grade 6 physical education and wellness, starting September 2022.
A new curriculum for Grades 4 to 6 mathematics and English language arts and literature will be implemented in September 2023.
The division said delaying the implementation of the new math and language arts curriculum for Grades 4 to 6 until September 2023 means that its teachers can focus on implementing the updated curriculum for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3.
“Our top priority is to ensure our students are prepared for their future in a dynamic and changing world. Our students need the best curriculum that will allow them to prepare for their future. We hope that this new curriculum does that and we look forward to seeing how it evolves,” said board chair Nicole Buchanan, adding that last April, the board voted unanimously to not participate in piloting the new curriculum in response to the issues and concerns of many in our community, and across the province.
The jurisdiction is also waiting for more information regarding the province’s announcement of $191 million over three years to try and make sure the new curriculum is implemented properly. While the additional funding is positive news, the school board is anxious to hear how it will directly impact Red Deer Public.
Related:
Updated curriculum will move forward into classrooms this fall
Chinook’s Edge School Division was another one of the many school jurisdictions that decided not to pilot the curriculum due to the content, the process, and the roll-out plan for the proposed K-6 curriculum.
Jason Drent, associate superintendent of learning services, said Chinook’s Edge School Division was also pleased that the province took a staged approach to implementation.
“We just want to ensure our teachers are getting the support required to implement this curriculum,” Drent said.
He said after dealing with COVID for the last two years, providing the proper support with a phased-in approach is something the division was pleased to see, he said.
Chinook’s Edge has been working with the draft released last year and was looking forward to seeing the final version to move forward, he said.
“It will be good to finally get started on this,” Drent said.
Related:
Questions raised about Alberta’s new curriculum advisory group
Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, said teachers are still waiting to see if feedback on the controversial curriculum was adopted.
“We still have not seen the draft of what they’re proposing to be putting into place in the fall. We’re going to run out of time for teachers to be prepared. We’re coming off a very challenging and difficult two years of education already without creating even more challenges for teachers and their students this fall,” Schilling said.
Unfortunately, government is barrelling ahead with implementation and continues to disregard the public’s concerns, he said.
Data from an independent poll released by the ATA showed almost half of Alberta residents don’t believe the draft curriculum will meet the needs of students, and 6 in 10 feel that the province is mishandling public education.
“We’ve heard the voices of thousands of teachers and parents, school boards, academics, indigenous communities, francophone communities, LGBTQ+, saying we need to stop the implementation of this curriculum, that the government does not have it right, yet they choose to ignore that.”
Schilling said government’s politics should be taken out of the curriculum process. It used to be that curriculum was developed by teachers and academics. That’s how Alberta created one of the best education systems in the world.
“We have seen that complete way of designing curriculum and implementing it in schools blown apart by the government during these last couple of years. And now we have a document that has essentially been created by political insiders and it’s not serving us well. Teachers know what will and won’t work in schools, and this curriculum won’t work.”
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter